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Urquidez and Zinicola Deliver Another Key Victory For No. 18 Baseball

PULLMAN, Wash. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- The No. 18 Arizona State Sun Devils scored three runs over the final two innings to break open a 2-2 game and seal the series victory with a 5-2 win over Washington State on a windy Saturday afternoon at Bailey-Brayton Field.

For the second straight Saturday, freshman Zechry Zinicola got the win on the mound and knocked in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly. Zinicola (San Bernadino, Calif.) gave up one hit in 2.2 scoreless innings and went 1-for-4 at the plate, including hitting a sacrifice fly with no outs and runners on second and third in the top of the eighth inning.

'Zinicola was outstanding,' said 10th year head coach Pat Murphy. 'He had some great at-bats and was lights out on the mound. Him and Jason (Urquidez) really battled today and gave us a pair of great performances.'

ASU improved to 28-12 overall while winning its fifth game out of the last six contests. The Sun Devils also reached the .500 mark in Pac-10 play at 7-7 with the victory. The victory also sealed ASU's second consecutive road series victory and has now won nine of the last 11 road series dating back to 2002. Washington State drops to 22-15 overall and 4-7 in league play.

'This is a team that likes to play on the road,' added Murphy. 'They are looser on the road and are able to do what they do best... and that is just play baseball. They don't have any pressure and just play the game. We had some great at-bats late in the game and really played all nine innings. WSU is a real good team and their pitcher was on today. This was a big win for our club and now we'll go for the sweep tomorrow.

Zinicola earned the win to improve to 4-2 on the season, taking over in the seventh inning for starter Jason Urquidez. Urquidez (Simi Valley, Calif.) had another solid start, limiting the Cougs to two runs and seven hits in 6.1 innings. He picked up the no-decision to remain 8-2 on the season.

Washington State senior starter Aaron Trolia, a transfer from Clemson, matched Urquidez in a brilliant start. Trolia gave up six hits and two runs in seven innings and left the game with the score tied 2-2. Freshman reliever Wayne Damon Jr., took the loss giving up four hits and three runs over the last two innings to fall to 2-3 on the season.

After Trolia went through the ASU lineup the first time around without giving up a hit, the Devils finally broke through in the top of the third inning. Junior leadoff hitter Dustin Pedroia (Woodland, Calif.) hit a two-out double down the left field line and Washington native Travis Buck (Richland, Wash.) followed with a two-run home run.

WSU battled back with a single tally in the fifth and tied the game in the sixth. Pinch hitter Zach Kosturos drove home WSU's first run with an infield single and senior center fielder Colin Henderson perfectly executed a squeeze bunt to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth.

The Sun Devils took the lead for good in the top of the eighth. Buck led off with a single to right field and moved to second on his eighth stolen base of the season. After a double to center field by Jeff Larish (Tempe, Ariz.), Zinicola plated the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to deep left field. After a pair of intentional walks, junior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (Scottsdale, Ariz.) extend the lead with another sacrifice fly to the left field wall. Larish also tabbed a two-out single in the top of the ninth to score Pedroia to tack on an insurance run.

ASU out-hit the Cougars 10-8 and for the fourth time in the last five contests did not record a fielding error. The top three hitters in the lineup (Pedroia, Buck , Larish) all went 2-for-5. Pedroia scored a pair of runs while recording his 20th multi-hit game of the year and driving his Pac-10 leading 19th double of the year. Buck scored two runs and drove home a pair of runs. Larish extended his hitting streak to six games and hit his 15th double of the year.

The Sun Devils will go for the sweep tomorrow in the series finale at 12 p.m. at Bailey-Brayton Field. The game can be heard live in the Phoenix area on 1440 AM and over the internet at www.TheSunDevils.com.

Game Notes:Dustin Pedroia recorded his 20th multi-hit game of the year and the 88th of his career... he now has started all 166 games of his career and has 271 hits and 66 doubles as a Sun Devil... for the fourth time in the last five games, ASU did not record a fielding error and now has a .971 team fielding percentage... ASU improved to 28-5 all-time against Washington State... Buck recorded his team-leading 13th multi-RBI game of the year and leads the team with 49 on the season... Larish extended his hitting streak to six games... senior infielder Nick Walsh did not play due to a sore lower back.